The story centers on a cymbal banging monkey toy that is possessed by an evil spirit. Every time the monkey claps its little cymbals together, a nearby living thing dies. The monkey is found in a family's attic in an old toy chest by a group of children, unknowing that their father was tormented by the monkey years ago, when it worked its lethal magic on his family and friends. The father takes the monkey and throws it in the lake in his backyard. At the end of the story is an excerpt of a newspaper article, which talks about hundreds of dead fish floating in the lake.